Wanting it cold, he had felt a skin irritation (6)
I believe the answer is:
itched
'felt a skin irritation' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both to do with perception as well as being past participle verbs.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'wanting it cold he had' is the wordplay.
'wanting' says to put letters next to each other.
'cold' becomes 'c' (eg on taps).
'he had' becomes 'he'd'.
'it' next to 'c' is 'itc'.
'itc'+'hed'='ITCHED'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for itched that I've seen before include "Was impatient (to do something)" , "Felt a strong desire" , "had urges" , "Longed (to do something)" , "Was in need of a scratch" .)